'I trust my father to this day,' daughter says of suspect who was Vargas' associate

Family members of Joe Pecora said it was not in the businessman's character to steal or not pay his taxes.

Pecora, former business manager of retired boxer Fernando Vargas, is on trial, accused of taking more than $400,000 from Vargas by forging or cashing signed checks for what Vargas thought were legitimate business costs.

Christina Pecora, the defendant's daughter, took the stand Wednesday as a prosecution witness. She said she and her father shared a bank account from about 2003 to 2008.

"He said, ‘Honey, I'm going to help you,' " Christina Pecora said. " ‘I feel that I could help you with issues with managing your money.' "

Prosecutors said Joe Pecora used that bank account to cash in checks he had forged with Vargas' signature and others that were signed by the former boxer.

Senior Deputy District Attorney Howard Wise asked Christina Pecora, 32, to identify various handwritten checks with her signature, which she identified were not endorsed by her.

However, she said she gave her father permission to endorse checks with her signature because it was a joint account. She said her father often would help her pay her bills.

Wise also asked Christina Pecora if she accompanied her father to any cancer treatments. She said her father knew she and her siblings "would get upset," and did not ask them to go with him to any cancer treatments at UCLA or services from Grossman Imaging Center in Oxnard.

Prosecutors said Joe Pecora would include memos on various checks indicating they were payments used for cancer treatments. Sgt. Mike Beckett, of the Ventura County Sheriff's Major Crimes Bureau, testified Wednesday there were no records of Pecora seeking services from Grossman Imaging.

When asked by defense attorney Matt Bromund whether her father would ever evade paying state taxes and whether he ever said he stole from Vargas, Christina Pecora replied, "No."